Phantoms Late round drafting history.

[Seabass 593]

Longevity is a rare thing in today's VHL. With how the league is designed, where you have a player for a maximum of only 8 seasons it's very difficult for a General Manager to build a competitive playoff team that stays competitive for long periods of time. To show you just how difficult that is, the current record holder in the VHL for consecutive playoff appearances are the New York Americans with 11 straight appearances from  S24-S34. That pales in comparison to the most recent NHL playoff streak that comes to mind with the Detroit Red Wings who had a 25 year run, and that's not even an NHL record.  

 

What made the Red Wings such a long term success was their ability to draft solid roster players from the later rounds and develop from within. To be able to get any kind of longevity in the VHL you would have to focus on those same two things, Drafting and Development.  Even though it hasn't shown in the form of a long playoff streak as of yet, I feel like Phantom's GM Jason Glasser @diamond_ace has done a great job when it comes to drafting from the later rounds and that's what I'll be showing you in this week's Media Spot. 

 

Originally my inspiration for this article came from a discord discussion with some of my fellow Phantom's team mates in which we we're discussing the most recent Phantom's trade in which we moved down 2 spots in the upcoming draft for two extra third round picks. These picks could potentially be valuable because of Jason Glasser's drafting success from the 3rd or later rounds. Lets take a quick look at the Phantom's drafting history from the 3rd or later rounds since they've come into the league in S68.

 

Season 68

 

27th Overall selection, Gert B. Frobe, @NumberJ5

34th Overall selection, David Wallace, @Juddy

38th Overall selection, Jacob Perry @Liberty_Cabbage

50th Overall selection, Ben McGirr @cartoes

62nd Overall selection, Lukas Schweitzer

 

In the Phantom's inaugural season, they held 3x 3rd round picks and that year's draft had enough depth to require two more rounds after that. This was a very successful draft for the Phantoms as they built most of their core from this draft. The 5 picks from the later rounds of this draft gave the Phantoms an enforcer/depth defender in Frobe, a 2nd pairing defender in Perry and a versatile top 6 forward in Ben McGirr. Schweitzer was a bust and Wallace retired after finishing his last year in the VHLM. Overall I think Glasser did well in acquiring 3 roster pieces from the later rounds of this draft.

 

Season 69 and Season 70

 

No picks

 

No picks in the later rounds were made during these two season since the Phantoms traded away their 3rd and 4th round selections from both drafts.

 

Season 71

 

35th Overall selection, Woody McPine @HearnNation67

41st Overall selection, Jack John @GoadenGoalie35

 

While both picks haven't yet played a single VHL game I wouldn't consider either of these two players busts, it's just that they haven't reached that point in their development. McPine is slated to have his VHL debut next season for the Phantoms as he's expected to compete for the team's starting goaltender position.  John is still an active member and on his current projection he will crack the VHL in another season or two. 

 

Season 72

 

32nd Overall selection, Riley Knight Gee @KnightRiley

46th Overall selection Ernie King @Greg Ernest

 

It's still a little too early to tell but it looks like the Phantoms drafted themselves another roster player in last year's draft as Riley Knight is currently holding off on TPE in order to be able to play an extra season in the minors. He's currently hovering under the 250 tpe minor league limit at 244 and he's almost guaranteed to become a member of the Phantoms after another season in the minors. King is looking like he may turn into a bust.

 

So after a review of Glasser's selections past the 2nd round, if you count future players Knight, McPine and John, Glasser will have gotten at least one VHL game out of 66.6% of his late round selections so far during his tenure as the Phantoms GM which is outstanding. So here's to hoping that at least one of the two 3rd rounders acquired from the Calgary Wranglers can turn into yet another success story for the Phantoms organisation. 

 

 

 

Edited July 15, 2020 by Seabass

[Seabass 593]

Edited due to fucking up glasser's first name @diamond_ace sorry man lol